Chief of the Army: Mauro Cid’s arrest is within the law – 05/17/2023 – Power

The commander of the Army, Tomás Paiva, said this Wednesday (17) that the Army does not comment on the decision of Justice, but complies, and that the arrest of Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, former assistant to Jair Bolsonaro (PL) , was done within the law.

“Today, what is being done is being done within the law and the Brazilian Army does not comment on the decision of the Justice, we comply with the decision of the Justice”, said the general, during a hearing at the Committee on Foreign Affairs and National Defense of the Chamber of Deputies. .

Cid has been arrested since the last day 3 as part of the investigation into fraud in vaccination cards in the Ministry of Health system. The investigation points to the military as the architect of a scheme that tampered with public vaccination data for his daughters, assistants and the former president himself.

During the hearing, deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) criticized the arrest and said that it would not have been carried out by the military police, as he said was foreseen. The commander, however, countered.

“First, it is not what is foreseen. What the Military Statute says is that an officer or active duty member of the military cannot be arrested by police authority unless he is in flagrante delicto. That was not the case. (…) He was accompanied by an Army officer from the Army Police Battalion, he was taken into custody, he is complying, as provided for in the law, with his precautionary measure within the military establishment,” he said.

Cid is imprisoned in the Police Battalion of the Army of Brasília, for being an active duty military man.

The commanders of the three forces also participated in the collegiate: General Tomás Paiva, from the Army; Admiral Marcos Sampaio Olsen, of the Navy; and Lieutenant Brigadier Marcelo Kanitz Damasceno, from the Air Force.

Bolsonaro testified to the Federal Police on Tuesday (16), in which he did not ask for data to be entered into his vaccination card, or that of his daughter Laura.

Former president said he was still unaware of Mauro Cid’s participation in the scheme, praised the military and stated that, if he defrauded the cards, it was in his absence.

During the hearing, Tomás Paiva was also confronted with a Folha report that showed that he received BRL 770,000 in February and March as cost help and pecuniary compensation.

Payments cover typical military career benefits and labor rights acquired over 42 years of service.

“I’m not ashamed, I didn’t ask for anything, it’s what’s foreseen in the law. These are rights, it’s foreseen in the law, in the regulations. They’re foreseen for all reserve soldiers”, said the general.